1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to aircraft emergency systems, and more particularly, to a system for deploying a plurality of chutes from aircraft wings in the event of an emergency.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The utilization of descent arresting techniques for increasing the survivability of an aircraft crash is well known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,402, issued to the present inventor, describes a system for deploying a parachute from a fuselage of an aircraft in the event of an emergency descent. Other prior art systems incorporating parachutes have been described; however, when applying such techniques to larger aircraft, the difficulty appears to be obtaining sufficient parachute area or volume to sufficiently arrest the descent.
The deployment of a sufficient number of parachutes from the fuselage of an aircraft or the deployment of a parachute of sufficient size from an aircraft are impractical. It is important to recognize that the deployment of a plurality of chutes from an aircraft is intended solely to increase the survivability of the resulting crash and is unlikely to contribute significantly to the saving of the aircraft structure. The deployment of as many chutes as required to sufficiently arrest the vertical speed of the aircraft therefore becomes important; the utilization of the main wing structure of the aircraft presents a significant area from which chutes can be deployed and from their points of deployment can also be used under some circumstances as emergency deceleration systems.